ScienceDaily

The first 3D reconstructions of extinct Cretaceous birds reveal a reptilian tooth replacement pattern.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/HlwVYDXYopEView the full article

Domestic cats that regularly catch wild animals still get most of their nutrition from food provided at home, new research shows.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/tl9MasgVoWEView the full article

A 25-million-year-old eagle fossil found in South Australia adds to the long evolutionary history of raptors in Australia.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/Bzyic5drRd8View the full article

Researchers can predict what syllables a bird will sing -- and when it will sing them -- by reading electrical signals in its brain, reports a new study. The work is an early step toward building vocal prostheses for humans who have lost the ability to speak.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/gzfR6uspf3kView the full article

Before humans made their way to New Zealand, the critically endangered flightless parrot known as the k?k?p? likely numbered in the hundreds of thousands. By 1995, their numbers had dwindled to just 51 birds, including 50 isolated on tiny Stewart Island and a single male, known as Richard Henry, all alone on the mainland. Today, those numbers have grown to about 200 individuals. Now, the first genome sequencing of the species offer some surprisingly good news: despite 10,000 years of island isolation and inbreeding, the k?k?p? appear to have lost potentially deleterious mutations rather than accumulating them. In fact, they now carry fewer deleterious mutations than now-extinct populations on the mainland once did.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/B155abU7-c0 View the full article

Migrating birds choose routes with the best wind and uplift conditions, helping them to fly nonstop for hundreds of kilometers over the sea.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/MgaOfMvhvvk View the full article

Bird species across the globe are suffering and dying from a type of malaria and, while these strains are not infectious to humans, they're spreading quickly through global transmission hotspots.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/hPvg2wD3_t8 View the full article

In less time than it takes to read this sentence, hummingbirds can catch a whiff of potential trouble. That's the result of new research showing, contrary to popular belief, the tiny birds do have an active sense of smell.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/k0aNpmL5wpI View the full article

A training technique that has been practiced by parrot owners for decades is now being applied to establishing new bird flocks in the wild. While many parrot owners clip their birds' wings to reduce their flight abilities, free-flight involves training an intact parrot to come when called, follow basic commands, recognize natural dangers, and otherwise safely fly in open areas.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/sCiT6Pg0E14 View the full article

Bird dispersal movements are thought to depend on complex demographic and genetic factors. Researchers show that there may be a simpler explanation: bird dispersal distances depend on the morphology and flight efficiency of the wings. Bird populations and the capacity of species to move across the landscape can determine which species will thrive and which may become endangered.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/zfT3wpFzSNI View the full article

Knowledge of the detailed accumulation profiles of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and POPs-like contaminants in wild animals is critical for ecological risk assessment. Comprehensive screening of organohalogen compounds in the livers of wild birds from Osaka, Japan using two-dimensional gas chromatography in combination with high resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC--HRToFMS) revealed specific accumulation of typically unmonitored POPs-like compounds in raptors.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/Z2LM-BWiKV0 View the full article

Using a novel modelling approach, new research reveals the location and intensity of key threats to biodiversity on land and identifies priority areas across the world to help inform conservation decision making at national and local levels.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/iHTBSZKecxA View the full article

Much like in human society, female hummingbirds have taken it into their own hands to avoid harassment. By watching white-necked Jacobin hummingbirds in Panama, researchers discovered that over a quarter of females have the same brightly colored ornamentation as males, which helps them avoid aggressive male behaviors during feeding, such as pecking and body slamming.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/rw5ppT5V75Y View the full article

A new study has revealed that over the last 20,000 to 50,000 years, birds have undergone a major extinction event, inflicted chiefly by humans, which caused the disappearance of about 10 to 20 percent of all avian species. According to the researchers, the vast majority of the extinct species shared several features: they were large, they lived on islands, and many of them were flightless.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/n3ClCEOXiwI View the full article

As the world's nations prepare to set new goals for protecting biodiversity, researchers have identified where data gaps continue to limit effective conservation decisions.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/J3eqSajMHZQ View the full article

A new study shows the eye size of birds can reveal broad patterns of their biology and behavior, including where they live, what they eat and how they hunt, providing a potential roadmap for future conservation efforts.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/Q-WZa3LFr2c View the full article

A team of researchers has recently discovered that fear plays an important, unrecognized role in the underdevelopment, and increased vulnerability, of backyard songbirds.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/kVc7u6OCDQE View the full article

A new study has identified the inconsistent response of wildlife to harmful algal blooms in the Great Lakes region from higher stress levels to weaker immune systems.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/vV7AFULhNzU View the full article

The introduction of invasive species leads to a decline in certain native species: a team of researchers has managed to show that 11% of the global phylogenetic diversity of birds and mammals, in other words their accumulated evolutionary history, is threatened by biological invasions. Their ability to adapt to environmental changes could thus be largely lost due to biological invasions.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/dcHbd7TGA3U View the full article

Newly-hatched pterosaurs may have been able to fly but their flying abilities may have been different from adult pterosaurs, according to a new study. Researchers found that hatchling humerus bones were stronger than those of many adult pterosaurs, indicating that they would have been strong enough for flight.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/C599QbfLHH0 View the full article

New findings from zoologists working with birds in Southeast Asia are shining fresh light on the connections between animal behaviour, geology, and evolution - underlining that species can diversify surprisingly quickly under certain conditions. Sulawesi Babblers (Pellorneum celebense), shy birds that live in the undergrowth on Indonesian islands, have begun to diverge quite significantly despite being separated geographically for mere tens of thousands of years.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/btuMg5eiPDE View the full article

A new early detection surveillance system for wildlife helps identify unusual patterns of illness and death in near real-time by tapping into data from wildlife rehabilitation organizations across California, explains a new study.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/ZtJtX5a2hZQ View the full article

Breakthrough article reveals multiple mechanisms for wing transparency in butterflies and moths; shows that wing transparency has evolved multiple times in lepidopterans.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/Hb4c8MR8sY8 View the full article

The sharp eyes of an eagle, the extraordinary hearing of an owl - to successfully find food, the eyes and ears of birds have adapted optimally to their living conditions. Until now, the sense of smell has played a rather subordinate role. When meadows are freshly mowed, storks often appear there to search for snails and frogs. Researchers have now studied the birds' behavior and discovered that the storks are attracted by the smell of the mown grass. Only storks that were downwind and could thus perceive the smell reacted to the mowing. The scientists also sprayed a meadow with a spray of green leaf scents released during mowing. Storks appeared here as well. This shows that white storks use their sense of smell to forage and suggests that the sense of smell may also play a greater role in other birds than previously thought.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/2Rw4fMxqa1E View the full article

Ecologists have applied stable isotope techniques to determine whether birds in the pet trade are captive or wild-caught, a key piece of evidence required in many cases to determine whether a trade is legal or not. They have applied this technique to the yellow-crested cockatoo, a critically endangered species from Indonesia/Timor-Leste with a global population of fewer than 2,500.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/y6gs-blz0jQ View the full article